Biography

American astronaut, the navigator of the 11-day Apollo 7 mission, which was launched on 10/11/1968 with a three-man crew that included Walter Schirra and Walter Cunningham. He was at the time a Major in the USAF. Described as the most methodical and introspective of the crew, his primary task was to check out the intricate guidance and navigation system of the spacecraft. The three astronauts became well known for their daily ten-minute TV shows from orbit, in which they clowned around, held up humorous signs and generally educated TV viewers back on earth about space flight. The TV industry presented them with a special Emmy award.

Raised in Columbus, Ohio, Eisele was a high school track star. He entered the Naval Academy through competitive examination rather than political appointment. He went through test pilot school and received a M.A. degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, OH. Eisele became a project engineer and experimental test pilot at the air Force special Weapons Center at Kirkland Air Base, NM. While still in test pilot school, Major Eisele won an appointment for astronaut training in 1963.

The Apollo 7 mission was his only space flight. He left the space agency shortly afterward, retired from the Air Force as a Colonel and in 1970, became a technical assistant for the Manned Flight and Space Systems Research Division at Langley Research Center. In 1972, he became director of the Peace Corps in Thailand. In the '80s, he joined the Prudential Bache Securities, a financial services business.